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I don't think I have to spell it out or anything but basically, Inoue rounds out the jaw a lot more and gives the head a rather squarish appearance and straightens out the nose line considerably. Basically, he either rounds out or flattens most of Oda's more subtle angular contours, of course this is usually more obvious in Inoue's female figures.

I suppose there's a bit of bias in that while Inoue's style is a fairly good match for Oda's, I find the particular differences off-putting whereas in Tate's style the slight differences seem aesthetically pleasing to me, conveying a closer feel to the original while perhaps deviating even more from the exact linework.

In any case, my favorites would have to be Tate, Koizumi, and Ide. Ishizuka's alright too, especially in the action department. I also don't really believe that Hisada has been responsible for all the openings since 5. Brand New World looks like Koizumi to me, and Crazy Rainbow Star is different as well. The only ones that seem the same are Jungle P and the newest opening. (which has to be my least favorite style for the anime....)

Re: A Study of One Piece Animation

Eisaku Inoue is part of the A-list group of animation directors in the One Piece anime. Presently his style sticks out because of the high level of detail and animation his episodes have. His style of drawing also resembles the manga-ka's Oda Eichiro's style the most (seconded by Naoki Tate). His style wasn't always like it is presently, in fact, the earlier style stuck much closer to Noboru Koizumi's character designs for the anime. The earlier episodes the characters seemed far more expressive (especially in the cases of Luffy and Ussopp) and had a slight roundish angular look to them (mostly the way Luffy's hair was drawn). One thing that is very noticable is that when it comes to Nami's eyes he likes to add details to the pupils (he started doing this in Arlong Park) and he does a very good incorporation of Oda's line hatching ability. Around the Loguetown episodes he began to space Luffy's eyes out giving him that "zombie stare" that becomes his trademark for his art style. By the time he returned in the Little Garden episodes his artwork started to mimic Oda's style almost spot on (this was very obvious in the way Luffy, Ussopp, and Zorro were drawn in 48 compared to the way they were drawn in 72) and stopped relying on Noboru Koizumi's designs. He also started to draw his female characters in a very lanky style which is really noticable in episode 93 where Vivi and Nami had a very refined look to them.

After the Alabasta arc Inoue was used more sparringly and seemingly for key episodes (he completely was absent durring the post-Alabasta filler, and Jaya arc, and only did two episodes of Skypeia). He came back into regular rotation after the anime budget upgrade for the first episode of the Ocean Dreams filler arc. Outside of a slightly brighter color palette his artwork seemed pretty similar to the earlier animation style (but since his episodes stood out more in the earlier set it would make sense it took him some time to get adjusted to the newer animation) at first. He gradually started to use more shading during the Water 7 arc. After 284 his animation style underwent another dramatic change and his episodes started to have a really detailed look to them (this is very apparent in how he draws Robin and Nami's eye details). The main reason I think this change occured was because of his work on movies 7 and 8 it allowed him to challenge himself and use more movie style techniques which he then incorporated into the regular series. Episode 312 (the Going Merry's burning) really did look like the animation style was ripped from Movie 7 (complete with Nami boobs).

One important thing to bring up is his style and Naoki Tate's artwork are very similar looking and it could be easy to mix up the two since they emulate Oda's designs. Tate's artwork is more focused on fluid animation and less detail while Inoue has been gradually getting more detailed with his style and incorporating a more movie style type animation for his episodes.

A lot of people have commented on Inoue's flaws which include his "parody" of the female's increasing chest sizes in movie 7 and how he doesn't "perfectly" copy Oda. Let me emphasize the anime style he uses isn't supposed to mimic Oda but it definately leaves one with the impression that if Oda doubled as an animator on the show his work would probably look like Inoue's.

Overall I'm impressed how Inoue's artwork has developed through the course of the series and I look foward to whatever future movies and epsidoes he works on.

Re: A Study of One Piece Animation

Hey this is really interesting stuff, never thought to think about how many people they must have on board since the series began. Thanks for takin' the time to dig all of this info up, this is something I can really appreciate.

Re: A Study of One Piece Animation

Inoue's pictures look alright. They are really One Piece like and not weird or anything. And I think the vibe from the art is pretty exciting, if you know what I mean. Even though the Nami and Usopp pic seem a bit weird. :p

More typicall pictures from different animators would be cool. I never realised there were different animators and styles. Too me, One Piece was just One Piece. (Although I sometimes did notice some differernt-from-normal-art, such as the episode were Vivi said goodbey, or the 'Going Merry funeral'.

I'm going to avoid One Piece forums from now on to avoid spoilers. I've just been spoiled about the main character in the arc after the next (from someone's signature), so that was the drop. Also about the name of the arc after the next. And more.

Re: A Study of One Piece Animation

All I have to say is whoever did the animations for Water 7 and the very beginning of Enies Lobby did a big failure. Those episodes were dramatically painful to watch as the animation was so poorly done.

Re: A Study of One Piece Animation

Originally Posted by Puke

All I have to say is whoever did the animations for Water 7 and the very beginning of Enies Lobby did a big failure. Those episodes were dramatically painful to watch as the animation was so poorly done.

Really? During that arc I dindn't really got annoyed by the art or anything, one of the scenes I remember is the scene Kaku jumped from a high building, that was pretty good right? I think I found the start of Thriller Barc the most disturbing qua art (or was I too anoyed by the pace?). And I do agree with you about the start of Ennies Lobby.

I'm going to avoid One Piece forums from now on to avoid spoilers. I've just been spoiled about the main character in the arc after the next (from someone's signature), so that was the drop. Also about the name of the arc after the next. And more.

Naoki Tate is another part of the A-list group of animation directors in the One Piece anime. One important thing to bring up is his style and Eisaku Inoue’s artwork are very similar looking and it could be easy to mix up the two since they emulate Oda's designs. Tate's artwork is more focused on fluid animation and less detail while Inoue has been gradually getting more detailed with his style and incorporating a more movie style type animation for his episodes. Which brings up Tate’s strength, fluidity. The movements of the characters in his episodes take on a very theatrical quality (not unlike a certain animator from Naruto Part 1 whose episodes had a very similar style). He came in during the Alabasta arc and was paired with Masahiro Shimanuki for his first two episodes (I‘ll give my input on him when I write up my review of him) . His style did not really start to get that Oda feel until episode 147 (mainly how Nami, Luffy, and Zoro looked). Throughout the Skypiea saga while his style was a slightly less polished version of Eisaku Inoue’s the aforementioned fluidity I spoke of would not come into play until the Water 7 arc where he began to experiment more with his art style. Most fans seems to complain that his exaggerated motion style makes the art look disproportioned and “ugly” (such as when Nami’s hair seems to grow more when it’s blowing around) but to me it was just the artist harnessing his craft. Key things to notice with his style is how he draws the characters in an obvious off-model style. While it is noticeable it’s not to the point that the animation is completely sacrificed, it’s just that his style is more focused on movement than design. Another way his animation direction sticks out is he tends to use less shading almost resembling the old style of animation. I’m not sure if he took after the directors of Movie 6 to help his animation stick out but I would not be surprised if he did.

Re: A Study of One Piece Animation

His character is dull now anyway, he's a smug little ace, I miss the part 1 Shikamaru, the dunce who was actually smart. That whole thematic world is dead and gone and I don't think Kishi even remembers it.

Re: A Study of One Piece Animation

His character is dull now anyway, he's a smug little ace, I miss the part 1 Shikamaru, the dunce who was actually smart. That whole thematic world is dead and gone and I don't think Kishi even remembers it.